A team of authors from university hospitals in Munich and Beijing, has concluded that acupuncture is one of the safest medical treatments available. In a systematic review, they surveyed data from 21 studies, covering nearly 13 million acupuncture treatments.
Meta-analyses indicated one minor adverse event in 9.3% of patients during a series of treatments. Serious adverse events were rare, with estimates of 1.01 per 10 000 patients and 8 million treatments. Those requiring any medical treatment were uncommon, and estimated at 1.14 per 1000 patients. Half of the adverse events reported, involved bleeding, pain or inflammation at the needling site.
The authors conclude that acupuncture can be considered among the safer treatments in medicine. Serious adverse events are rare, and the most common minor ones are very mild.
(Acupuncture-related adverse events: systematic review & meta-analyses of prospective clinical studies. BMJ Open, 6 September 2021.)
Researchers at DongShin University in Korea, have assessed the effectiveness of acupuncture for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and found promising results. A total of 32 patients aged 55 to 85, and with MCI, were randomly assigned to one of four acupuncture treatment arms: a core group of acupuncture points for 30 minutes; core points for 20 minutes; core points plus an additional point; electrical stimulation of core points. Sessions were given three times a week for eight weeks.
University researchers in Turkey have found that acupressure after gall bladder removal, reduces pain and speeds recovery. A total of 65 patients undergoing laparoscopic gall bladder removal, were randomly assigned to receive either acupressure at four designated points, or light-touch contact as a control. Acupressure was given for 12 minutes at 0, 4 and 8 hours following surgery. 
